I'm in for my first ever half. Signed up last year but never made it to the start due to getting injured the weekend before. Lots of lessons learnt (too many newbie mistakes made) and training much more structured this time around. I cannot wait to line up for my first Half Marathon and even better that it is in my home town.

I'm signed up. Just recovering from last Sunday's delightful Snowdonia HM & then back to training.

RhesycaeRunner - is that the Rhes-y-cae near Holywell? I live in Sychdyn & do most of my running up the lanes around Rhosesmor. Plenty of juicy hills - should make the Chester HM seem plain sailing...I hope!

yes mate it is. I do all my running around rhes y cae, rhosesmor, and halkyn. Originally I'm from mold. I've been running about 18 months, and try to cram in as many races as I can. I'm hoping to go under 1.30 in chester, I ran 1.32 at anglesey into a really strong headwind. How did you get on at snowdonia? That's meant to be a good race ?

Hi RhesycaeRunner, training is going really well so far and I put that down to building up a base over winter. I have 2 aims for the half, the first is to make it to the start and the second is get around in one piece. An added bonus would be getting around under 1 hour 50 which is what I am training towards. Any tips for on the day?

AnimalMagic - Was Manchester your first marathon? How did the training go? The reason I ask is that if I come through this in okay shape then I am going in for the Chester full as my first marathon and was just wondering how much harder it is?

Jim - Yeah Manchester was my first. I've done 3 halfs before (Capesthorne in November, 4 villages in Jan and Wilmslow in March). The marathon is a different beast altogether, its seriously tough. I just dont think anything other than previous marathons can prepare you for the pain in those last 6 miles. I followed the P&D 18/55 plan and nailed 95% of it running around 650 miles in those 18 weeks. It still wasnt enough for a strong finish.

Whooa, that's going to make me have a good long think about whether it's for me or not. I can only commit to 4 nights running a week and was looking at following the Hig Nov 2 plan as it sort of fitted in around what I can do and where I currently am. This only covers about 500 miles so I am wondering if this would leave me short? I wasn't looking for any special time, more just being able to get around in about 4 to 4.30 hours. Thanks for the insight and good luck in the half.

Hi jimbob, my tips for chester half? If i remember right the first 5 miles are slightly uphill so don't go out too fast. I also ran marathon last Sunday. I mainly run half marathons but have ran 3 full marathons. I run about 30 miles a week , and each run is at least6 miles. For my marathon I just added the occasional long run between 15-20 miles. i don't have time to do any more miles than that, which is why I'm much better at half than full. But I will say a marathon is a bit more special, ill prob run chester in oct.

20 k on bike today today to get my legs going, start running again on Sunday

Jim - There is absolutely no reason you wouldn't get round training 4 times a week, people do it on a lot less. Just personally the comparison between running a half and a full is vast. it feels a lot more than double! Its an experience though and certainly more rewarding than a half.

A.M - Thanks again for the info and your own personal perspective on it. Before I take the plunge I might just see how the half goes and take it from there. I really do want to do the full as I've always wanted to do London but cannot get in so was going to do my full home just to get one under the belt.

Anyone run this before that can comment on what traffic/parking is like? Been to Chester a few times (non race days) and parking has always been difficult. I'm half debating getting the train in but with the early start on a Sunday those are at a premium too!

Loads of parking on the Racecourse if it's dry but can be difficult to get off as race has grown over past few years, might be OK if you go for lunch or a pint in town before heading home. Park and ride can be good but if you hang around any longer than necessary expect a long wait In queue for bus back to Car park. Car parks in city centre should be ok early Sunday morning, probably cost a fiver or so. I am considering parking at retail park on Sealand Road, walk down to Racecourse to the start. I will have to walk back to Racecourse to collect bag post race so you are then halfway back to where car is parked. The walk is a good way to losen up post race and you should have your bag of Haribo for company.

Thanks for the info about not being able to park on racecourse I wouldn't have noticed that. Wasn't to bad getting off the racecourse last year for the half, the full marathon in October was a nightmare took over an hour!.

surprised they have done that, being local-ish I know parking can bid a bit of a pain in chester and expensive! Will have to set off a bit earlier now

Not sure if it's still valid, but a few years ago people were charged an arm & a leg for parking on the Sealand Road retail park & going to Chester Races for the day. There were numberplate cameras that logged you going into the carparks, & if you overstayed a certain time the rates were horrendous.

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